Is Reed worth $130K for 4 years?

Paying for College
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<p>Accounting might be useful, but the OP made clear that he was interested in the marketing end of business – which would probably be served better at the undergrad level with a communications major (offered at Davis, not at Reed). Marketing is about presenting a product – not about crunching numbers – though obviously it is best for a business-focused individual to have a reasonably good grounding in both.</p>

<p>I asked the OP about major because I was interested in figuring out how UCD might compare to Reed. For a science major, it could be the difference between learning in a small class environment vs. big lecture environment – for humanities, not so much, because UCD humanities classes tend to be smaller overall. </p>

<p>I was kind of thrown a curve ball with the “business” response. I don’t doubt that the OP will be able to get an excellent education along the way, but that does make me think that the OP has not really delved beyond surface impressions in exploring options.</p>

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<p>I agree, Calmom. Even if the OP changes his/her mind on the major, that it isn’t even there is strange. I see this a lot with kids</p>

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<p>Not to mention that a student could major in mathematics and get a master’s degree in accounting if they wanted to be an accountant. Virtually every school has a math major.</p>

<p>UC-Davis looks like the the best choice, and honestly, it’s a great school. I don’t see any reason for you to go to community college for two years only to to transfer (and probably get a worse package) somewhere that’s still going to be expensive.</p>

<p>How did UCD give you $10,000 in Stafford loans? The limits for dependent freshman is $5,500 a year - $3,500 subsidized and $2,000 unsubsidized. There’s no way you got $10K in Stafford loans, even as an independent student (the limit is lower than $10K even for independents) - perhaps you got $5K in Perkins loans on top of a mixture of sub and unsub Staffords?</p>

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<p>Well, the part that bugs me is that this comes up in the context of a kid wanting to borrow an unconscionable amount of money to pay for the ticket to the “dream” college, when there clearly is a more affordable high-quality option for college. It doesn’t surprise me that a kid might apply to a school without fully investigating its offerings – after all, many kids apply as “undecided” – there is always the risk that, down the line, they will “decide” on something their chosen school doesn’t offer. </p>

<p>But I don’t see how a person can even consider taking on the huge debt without coming down off of the dream cloud and looking at specifics about what each college offers. If rather than “business” the OP had said s/he wants to major in “economics”, then we could go on line, get a sense of the size and quality of the respective school’s departments, number of courses offered, etc. It’s even often possible to check to get a sense of how many students are enrolled in current courses – which can address the fears that many students have about large state universities.</p>

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What does entering a school as an undecided major have to do with not knowing what a school offers?</p>

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<p>If you have some ideas of what you want to study, you certainly should pick schools that have those options. Getting your masters is a possibility, but if you are a student worried about costs and loans, a master’s is not a good way to go because it adds more costs, and more loans. For a student who wants to keep costs and loans at a minimum, pickings schools that are most likely to have the programs of interest makes a lot of sense. Transferring costs money and can put a student in a situation where s/he less attractive for financial aid because even many of those schools that are need blind and/or give 100% or close to it aid packages, often do not extend that policy to transfers. Going a fifth year, getting a masters, or going in the summer is another costly option.</p>

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<p>I chose the schools based on my interest in the community, not so much the majors (as I know I’m going to business school anyways, and you don’t necessarily have to had majored in a business aspect to go there). I feel like Reed fits me better than UCD does, which is why I like it more. </p>

<p>I heard back from Reed and They gave me a much bigger grant, so my costs (including the Stafford loans, and Perkins Loans) are only about $13,300 per year. Cheaper than UCD! I’m definitely going to Reed now. </p>

<p>And my bad, I maxed out the Stafford loans on UCD and think the other part of the $10,000 gov’t loans are Perkins loans. </p>

<p>I’m pretty sure I’m focusing on finding a career related to business, but I’m not going to necessarily focus on business in college. I’m open to other options.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your help! I would have gone to UCD if Reed hadn’t given me enough financial aid. I don’t plan on borrowing that $11,300 for Reed, so no big debt burden for my parents (they’ll just have to live in a four-star retirement home instead). </p>

<p>College Confidential is the best! Thank you thank you thank you!!!</p>

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<p>That’s great news from Reed – you are very fortunate that your dream school is now affordable – and you no longer have to make a choice based on cost.</p>

<p>While I understand your focus on the learning environment rather than specific majors, if you plan to go for an MBA after graduation, that is just one more reason you can’t afford to be in substantial debt after graduation?</p>

<p>Have you confirmed with Reed that your aid will generally stay about the same for all 4 years? It seems like they perhaps did not understand about your parents’ status as far as prospects for future employment.</p>

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<p>It is really nice to hear about an outcome like this. I hope you love Reed.</p>

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<p>Congrats on getting some more money on review. It’s always rewarding to read such news. Enjoy Reed. It’s great when things work out well for someone here.</p>

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<p>When your parents start working, have them move as much of their assets as possible into retirement accounts (like IRAs). They should advise their friends to do the same. In that way, those assets are preserved for retirement and most likely won’t be counted by CSS Profile schools unless the amount is really huge. </p>

<p>Congratulations on Reed coming through for you. I can’t imagine the same student being happy at both Reed and Davis. But if it is Portland you like, I’m wondering if University of Portland might be a better fit? Too late now. . .</p>

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<p>OP loves Portland and feels that Reed is a great fit. I can’t see the same student being equally happy at both Reed and University of Portland. Also, University of Portland’s academics are leagues below Reed’s.</p>

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<p>@calmom: I’m pretty sure they’ll understand (and I wrote in my letter) that my dad getting a job in the next four years is quite unlikely. He works for petty cash here and there, but it’s not a stable paycheck. </p>

<p>I totally understand that having debt early on when I start college will only make the debt worse once I go to grad school. However, Reed has helped so much with that burden that I won’t have to borrow any money except for the $2500 in Stafford and Perkins Loans offered in my Reed FA. My parents can pay the $11K out of pocket with no worries about becoming homeless once they are retired.</p>

<p>I’m pretty sure Reed’s policy is to keep the FA award the same for all four years if my parents don’t win the lottery or get a really high paying job within the next four years (it would take a “turning water into wine” miracle for either of those to happen), but I will call the FA office tomorrow just to be sure. </p>

<p>My mom’s condition is persistent, and doesn’t seem like it will ever get better. She’s on permanent disability, and so far her disability checks are what our main income is. My dad is in his 60s, has been in America for 20 years, and can barely speak a lick of English (for the lack of trying and complacency), so I’m pretty sure his lackadaisical self will keep relying on unemployment checks until they run out. I’m pretty sure my situation won’t change in the next four years, probably except for the annual income dropping once the unemployment checks stop coming. When my dad does get a job again (probably at McD’s or another fast food place that doesn’t mind non-English speaking workers), I’m going to ask him to put 75% of his checks into the IRA he has. </p>

<p>Chinese people aren’t apt to talk so openly about their finances with each other (I guess it’s the keeping up with the Jones mentality), but I’m sure they have their own ways of minimizing their EFC. </p>

<p>I didn’t necessarily look at specific cities to single out schools that are in the vicinity just because of the location per se, but more so to do with the academic programs and campus area first, then location to a big city second. I’m definitely not a fan of NYU/GW like campuses, but want a school with an enclosed campus that is near a big city but not in it.I never looked at Univ. of Portland b/c I wanted a place w/ a smaller incoming class, either a LAC or had a LAC feel to it (like University of Chicago). I applied all over the place:Fordham (NYC), WashU (St. Louis, though it’s just not as accessible of a city as San Fran or Portland is), Tulane (New Orleans), UC Davis (well, I visited and liked it, but Sac. isn’t as big as SF), Yale (New Haven, Hartford), Brown (Providence), UoC (Chicago), St. John’s College (Santa Fe, but I’m ignorant of how metropolitan it is), and UCLA. I’m a city girl who likes to return home to suburbia. </p>

<p>Thank you all the moms, pops, students, and CC people for providing me with so much information and opinions to help me make a decision! I hope Reed will be my academically challenging cloud 9 :D</p>